1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video editing apparatus for controlling a plurality of video reproducing apparatuses each having a video signal recorded on a recording medium such as a tape reel mounted thereon. The video editing apparatus edits video signals supplied from the plural video reproducing apparatuses by selectively recording them.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional video editing apparatus controls each of a plurality of video cassette recorders (hereinafter, merely referred to as VCRs) connected therewith to reproduce video signals recorded on the recording media mounted thereon. The video editing apparatus edits the supplied video signals into one program. Two to thirty VCRs usually can be connected with a single video editing apparatus. The video editing apparatus supplies to the VCRs control commands such as "Play" or "Record" and information such as time code or status in order to control the VCRs. The VCRs respond to the control signals supplied from the video editing apparatus.
The video editing apparatus also controls a video switcher and an audio mixer to obtain special effects for video and sound.
This type of video editing apparatus is mainly for professional use. Many types of video editing apparatuses output an edit information to the outside and receive an input edit information from the outside in the form of an edit decision list while the editing apparatus is in a so-called edit decision list mode. When the edit information is newly set or amended, the video editing apparatus displays the edit decision list on its monitor screen in a so-called decision making mode so that desired edit information can be set as an edit decision list. The video editing apparatus carries out this decision making process, using information of tape names rather than the names of VCRs on which the tapes are mounted. When the decision making process is carried out, the tape names are displayed on a monitor screen of the video editing apparatus.
Each VCR to be controlled by the video editing apparatus is named as recorder 1, recorder 2, . . . or player 1, player 2, . . . while the video editing apparatus carries out the decision making process. After the video editing apparatus makes a satisfactory edit decision list in the decision making process, that setting of the edit information is stored as the updated version of the edit decision list.
The setting of the edit information on the edit decision list does not show where an edit beginning point (an in-point) and an edit ending point (an out-point) of player 1 are, for example, but does show where an edit beginning point and an edit ending point regarding a tape name, that is, the reel name mounted on player 1 are. The video editing apparatus makes the setting of the edit information in this manner because, if there are many source-tapes to be edited, the same tape is not necessarily mounted on the same VCR when the decision making process is made.
The video editing apparatus carries out the decision making process for deciding an editing order in an interactive way. However, when a so-called unmounted reel is found, that is, when a tape used in the edit decision list is not mounted on any VCR, not all the edit information on the edit decision list can be subject to the decision making process. In this situation, the video editing apparatus displays an error message such as "Unmounted Tape XXXX", for example, and induces an operator to mount the unmounted tape. This error message indicates the names of tapes necessary to carry out the editing according to the edit decision list.
However, the error message displayed on the monitor screen disappears when the operator of the video editing apparatus starts to do something in this decision making mode. Although the operator begins tape setting operation to mount a tape which is unmounted, the name of the unmounted tape becomes unknown to the operator because the error message has already disappeared. For this reason, the operator has to make a note of the error message indicating the names of the unmounted tapes. In addition, the operator has to input the names of the unmounted tapes in the decision making mode letter by letter by using a key board.
Though a tape name was conventionally expressed by a three-digit number, it has been recently expanded to six-digit alphanumeric characters. Therefore, when the number of tapes which can be mounted increases, it is very hard for the operator to memorize the corresponding six-digit alphanumeric characters for the tapes and to enter them by using the key board.